Erik Spoelstra talked about Kyle Lowry and his off-the-bench role with the Miami Heat this season, praising the veteran guard for his winning mentality and for how well he has adapted to his role.
“In reference to Kyle, he’s all about winning. At this stage in his career, when you have more yesterdays than you have tomorrows, it’s really about these kind of competitive moments on the biggest stage.
“That’s what drives him more than anything, is the ultimate competition. It was a relatively easy decision to take him off the bench because we had to shut him down for five weeks, and when he came back, he had a minutes restriction that he and I were aware of. The first game he came back I played him 36 minutes, so the head coach got yelled at by everybody.
“Kyle and I met the next day and we were both laughing about it. We needed to protect each other. The only way to do that was to bring him off the bench so we could control the minutes.
“We did that the rest of the year. There was really only about a month left in the season. He excelled in that role. By the time we got to the Playoffs, even though he could handle more minutes, we just stayed with it, and really secure with that. I think he has embraced that.
“Our second unit now is one of our biggest strengths as a team. We were struggling with our second unit for various reasons for most of the season, and he kind of just fixed all that on his own,” Erik Spoelstra said about Kyle Lowry on Tuesday.
Kyle Lowry has averaged 8.9 points, 3.3 rebounds and 4.3 assists, on 38% from beyond the arc, in 20 games in the 2023 playoffs. He had nine points and three assists, on 2/3 from beyond the arc in Miami’s Game 2 triumph (111-108).
The series with the Nuggets (1-1) now shifts to Miami for Games 3 and 4 this week, while Game 5 takes place in Denver on Monday, June 12.
